Car-parking partner sought for health precinct

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A new public parking building is likely to be the first thing built in the new health precinct centred around Christchurch Hospital.

Parking around the hospital has been at a premium since the quakes forced the closure of the public parking building on Antigua St, between Tuam and St Asaph streets.

The Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) wants to build a replacement parking building in roughly the same vicinity and is searching for a private sector partner to work with it on the project.

A CDHB spokeswoman said the board had called for expressions of interest and the next step was to go out to a request for a proposal, which it was about to do.

The exact date of construction could only be confirmed after the tender process but it was likely to be the first development to start in the health precinct.

The old parking building was operated by the Christchurch City Council under lease from the CDHB but it had no ownership stake in the building. Council transport and greenspace unit manager John Mackie said it had no plans to be involved in its redevelopment.

The CDHB, the Christchurch Central Development Unit (CCDU), the University of Otago, the University of Canterbury and Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology are working together to develop the new health precinct.

CCDU general manager of project delivery Greg Wilson has said public sector developments need to get under way in order to give the private sector the certainty it requires.